Spreading Smiles collecting Smiles 2016 Ride

Jinete Monjes, a group of motorcycle enthusiasts from Jaipur set out on a ride from the Pink City to Leh & Ladakh on the 2nd of September 2016. The trip was a 12 day ride passing through one of the most picturesque and challenging, motorable roads in the world. Jinete Monjes has more than 80 members out of which 7 members namely Rajiv Bansal, Chandraveer Singh Shekhawat, Naveen Sharma, Dr. Ajayveer Khurana, Honey Harish, Abhishek Tripathi and Tauseef Rehan, undertook the gruelling 12 day adventure of spreading smiles and collecting smiles.

Staying true to their motto – “It’s not about the destination but the journey itself”, they christened this ride “Spreading Smiles, Collecting Smiles 2016”. The idea behind this adventure was that everybody rides to Leh-Ladakh but very few add value or give back to the beautiful surroundings or to the local inhabitants. The Spreading Smiles, Collecting Smiles 2016 ride was conducted.

One of the highlights of the ride was the visit to Riglam School which has only 125 children on its rolls out of which 25 are full time boarders, in spite of there being a huge demand for admissions. Spending time and interacting with the students and teachers to understand the everyday life struggles these happy people have to endure, was an eye opener, for the members. The school has only one bus which has to make multiple trips each day to get the children to school and back. Due to a lack of funds, the school infrastructure is lacking many basic amenities like sports equipments, proper furniture and the building itself needs repairs. Mr P.T Kunzang who is also the Vice President of the Ladakh Buddhist Association, Leh apprised them about the local customs, struggles and needs of the people. Staying true to their motto, the members donated computers, distribute school bags, badges etc.

With a smile on their faces, joy in their hearts and a pledge to spread more smiles as they take on more miles the members called it a day and made their way back to Jaipur.